Her Daily News

The debate on abortion has long been a heated one, with strong opinions on both sides and far-reaching ethical implications. However, this debate resulted in tragedy today as a prominent abortion doctor was shot and killed at his church in Kansas.

Dr. George Tiller, 67, was serving as an usher at Reformation Lutheran Church when he was shot and killed this morning, according to the Associated Press. A suspect was later detained; this man has been identified as Scott Roeder, who has a criminal record and who has expressed strong anti-abortion views in the past. So far, he has not been charged with the murder, and it is expected that he will be taken to Wichita for questioning.

Dr. Tiller’s Women’s Health Care Services is known as one of only three clinics in the country that performs late-term abortions. He and the clinic have been targets of violence in the past - the clinic was bombed in 1985, and Dr. Tiller was shot in both arms in 1993. Furthermore, the clinic was targeted in recent acts of vandalism, and Dr. Tiller had asked the FBI to investigate recent incidents including damage to security cameras.

Reactions to the murder have been varied among those on both sides of the debate. Some anti-abortion activists have denounced the violent tactics used, while others have called Dr. Tiller a murderer in his own right. Meanwhile, pro-choice activist Nancy Keenan of NARAL Pro-Choice America has spoken out in support of clinics like Dr. Tiller’s in light of this tragic act. However, President Obama summed it up very well: “However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.”

For the past month, it seems like everyone has been talking about Nadya Suleman, the California woman who gave birth to octuplets. She has been the subject of many discussions, ranging from medical ethics to political policy, and her physical resemblance to Angelina Jolie has been fodder for many a wiseacre. So perhaps it was inevitable that eventually Dr. Phil, that noted dispenser of wisdom, would eventually weigh in. And did he ever!

According to a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Phil McGraw spoke with Ms. Suleman, who disclosed her fears for the future of her family. It is well-known that Ms. Suleman, a single mom, relies on government assistance, including food stamps and disability payments, and she revealed that hospital officials expressed concerns about her ability to care for the octuplets, along with her six other children. She now fears that her babies will not be released to her once they are developmentally ready - indeed, Child Protective Services has the authority to place a protective hold on the children if they believe Ms. Suleman to be unfit. They could even be placed in temporary foster care.

So what does Dr. Phil have to say? While he echoes the hospital’s concerns, citing her lack of money, space, and resources, he does not believe that putting the children in foster care is an attractive alternative, as it disrupts the family unit. He told the Times, “You can’t turn your back on the mother without turning your back on 14 innocent children. They didn’t ask for this.”

During the 2008 presidential campaign, GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin drew criticism and controversy when it was found out that her teenage daughter Bristol was pregnant, especially in light of the Alaska Governor’s well-publicized views favoring abstinence-only education. More recently, though, Bristol, now 18, has spoken to the media about the birth of her son Tripp - and she faced some tough questions about the media attention that she had to deal with during her pregnancy.

People reports on Bristol’s recent segment on Fox News in which she told Greta Van Susteren about her hope that her experience will serve as a lesson for others - she hopes that teens will wait longer than she did. She told Van Susteren that her situation was not the easiest one to raise a child in: “I hope people learn from my story … It’s so much easier if you’re married, have a house and career.” Nevertheless, she insists that the choice that she made to keep her child was not dictated by her mother’s staunch anti-abortion stance, stating emphatically, “It was my choice to have the baby.”

Her views do differ from her mom’s on the issue of abstinence-only education. While Governor Palin strongly favors teaching abstinence, her daughter feels that this stance is not realistic. Indeed, telling her parents of her own pregnancy was difficult for the teen - she says that the conversation was “harder than labor.” Nevertheless, she enjoys being a mother - she said, “I love it, just seeing him smile and stuff. It’s awesome.” And Tripp’s grandmother made an appearance during the interview as well - of all her family has been through in recent months, she says, “Hey, life happens.”

Pregnancy is a wonderful time in a woman’s life, but it can also be one of the most complicated, health-wise - during pregnancy, women are at risk for conditions such as hypertension and gestational diabetes. It has been well-documented that obesity during pregnancy increases a woman’s risk for those conditions, and recent findings indicate that it is a risk factor for the fetus as well. According to a British study reported in the Los Angeles Times, the children of obese mothers are at an elevated risk of birth defects.

3% of all infants have birth defects, but the study, conducted at Newcastle University, reveals that the rate is 4% among the children of obese mothers. These birth defects include, but are not limited to, heart defects, cleft palate, limb reduction defects, anorectal atresia, and spina bifida. Many of these birth defects are potentially fatal - one-fifth of infant deaths are the result of birth defects. In the infants who survive these defects, quality of life is often compromised, as birth defects can result in disability and a lifelong need for medical intervention. The cause of the increased risk was not determined, but it is speculated that nutritional factors play a part. Nutrition during pregnancy is critical for proper fetal development, according to the Mayo Clinic’s article on prenatal nutrition. In particular, folic acid is noted for its properties in reducing the likelihood of certain birth defects in the spine and brain. A woman who monitors her weight during pregnancy may be more likely to give special attention to proper nutrition as well.

Merck& Co. developed Gardasil a few years ago, the first vaccine to fight any form of cancer.   This alone is quite remarkable.  Cervical cancer is aggressive, deadly  and often goes undetected.  It is also overwhelmingly caused by a virus.  Originally marketed to girls between the ages of 12 and 26, Gardasil is now being advertised and marketed to older women.

Gardasil is a vaccine used to protect against HPV, human papillomavirus, strains 16 and 18 which cause approximately 70 percent of all cases of cervical cancer.  A recent study by the University of Alabama found that vaccinating older women could also significantly reduce the rates of cervical cancer.  This study found that cervical cancer rates could be reduced up to 55 percent for a 45-year old woman.

HPV is transmitted through sexual contact and the original thinking was that women should get the vaccine prior to becoming sexually active.

The CDC recently released the statistic that one third of girls ages 13-17 have received the Gardasil vaccine.

Gardasil has received sharp criticism because of the issue of side effects.  Click here to read more from WebMD on that issue.

Source: Dulcinia

We credit the information age with allowing us faster communication, rather, instant communication. Email, text messages, twitter, blogs, Blackberries and cellphones with cameras, video baby-monitors and TiVo; we can see our sleeping children in the other room while pausing live television so that we can send a message via Twitter that we have updated our blog with a photo taken with the camera on a cellphone. There is nothing that cannot be communicated around the world in a matter of minutes, er, seconds.

But what if that email contained some information that you would rather hear in person and possibly over muffin laced with a serious apology. inSpot.org, launched in 2004 is a website that allows users to notify partners anonymously that they need to be tested for the STD HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia or syphilis.

I think it is great that there exists a way to notify past partners that they could have been exposed to a sexually transmitted disease, however, this is a little, oh, odd? The benefits of someone getting tested and therefore early treatment outweigh the inhumane and potentially insensitivity of this notification method.

The site reported to CNN that over 50,000 cards have been sent since their launch and while the potential of misuse was a concern they have actually had very few complaints, specifically less than 10 cards that were received in error. Started in San Francisco this site has spread to New York, Chicago, Canada and Romania.

The website inSpot also provides information about where to go for testing and treatment. It also provides great and accurate information about treatable and curable STDs.

inSpot’s RESOURCE link is also quite well stocked.

Postpartum Support International, (PSI) was founded in 1987 to “eliminate denial and ignorance of emotional health related to childbirth.  I’ve written about this topic before but after reading about another mom and blogger who is a little bit overwhelmed right now I feel this is a good opportunity to once again talk about this unfortunately taboo-topic.

Childbirth can be physically stressful.  It IS emotionally stressful, in most cases it is a good stress, a new and positive life change, but it can take time to adjust to a good change.  I really like the mission of PSI: “eliminate the ignorance” of postpartum depression.  Too often women are struggling, silently and even those closest to them do not know or don’t recognize the behaviors and symptoms.

I don’t like the name POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION. The implications are incorrect.  Sometimes the manifestation is in the form of anxiety.  Depression doesn’t always mean you mope around in dark cloud of sadness.  Some women do.  Many other sufferers are actually well functioning mothers and wives.  They wake up each day and smile at their baby, clean the house, shop for groceries, make dinner for their husband and even find some time to post to their blogs.  However, in silence, in their minds they are often riddled with anxiety, worry, and self-criticism, irritability and inadequacy haunt their minds.  Most women don’t even get close to hurting their children.

PSI has a great website for any new mother or mother-to-be.  The resources are up to date and easy to read.  If you suspect you or someone close to you is affected, please reach out and talk to them, show them this posting or this or this.

Canadian blogger and mother, Catherine Connors of Her Bad Mother, was asked to cover-up recently on a WestJet flight from Vancouver to Toronto as she breastfed her four month old son. Connors, not one to take things lying down and also outraged at the treatment of a nursing mother, blogged about it here, and then talked about it here on the CBC news. (skip to minute 16)

We need more women championing for those of us who nurse our children. While I’m not personally a fan of letting my tube-sock boobs flap freely in the breeze, nor would I encourage anyone to do that, the point I make is that it is natural and NORMAL to breastfeed a baby. Most women at least attempt to cover up and are vaguely discreet while simultaneously wrangling a loose boob and a baby.

Sorry guys, but the actual purpose of these boulders is for nursing, not your own entertainment. We’ve gotten far too lackadaisical by giving babies bottles, so much so that we balk and gasp at a nursing mother in public as if that is wrong. What if we chastised women for giving bottles of formula?? I don’t think that will ever happen. If the mother of a three month old wants to go a park or the mall or fly on an airplane she shouldn’t feel any more ashamed to open her blouse than another mom feels to shake-up a bottle of formula.

There are other breastfeeding bloggers out there who keep up posted about their situations and encounters with un-breast-friendly folks. And another one can be found here.

For a complete list of breastfeeding laws in your state, click here.

It doesn’t hurt to know this either. Child’s Right to Nurse Act.

The Center for Women’s Mental Health at Massachusetts General Hospital has a fabulous website. I have been a fan of it for years checking every few months or so for new links and information. I perused the site daily for a few weeks earlier this year just after my son was born when I was really having trouble shaking the depression and anxiety I was experiencing. I am familiar with depression and it shouldn’t have taken me so long to identify that I was experiencing PPD, Postpartum Depression. However, PPD is tricky like that, it masquerades as tiredness, irritability, hating your husband, hating the lady who comes to clean your house, hating your saggy still fat body, hating everything and yelling often, saying bad things about yourself, the signs and symptoms are as different as each person who experiences this. For the record I never had any negative feelings toward the baby at all, although many women think that PPD means you are mad at your baby. I was just really unhappy with myself. Also for the record, since I seem to be “recording” things here, I did not seek medical help, I did not take any psychiatric medication (although I should have) , and once I was able to join a local gym and get out of the house, alone, and get some exercise, along with other things, mentally at least things started to fall into a much better place for me. **It isn’t this simple for many others, however.

I’m sure a lot of women go straight to the doctor and ask for a prescription of an SSRI and they get better. There are also a lot of women who seek out a good therapist and the talking helps them get to a better place.

I was not either of those women.

I was and still am nursing my son who is eight months old at the time of this article. I recall being told by one nurse in one doctor’s office that if I were to experience PPD they would “stop my breastfeeding to allow my hormones to re-regulate and then evaluate the situation” and because of this I was absolutely scared out of my DD-nursing bra that if I even hinted to anyone that I was feeling a bit, oh, irritable? that I would be forced to give up my nursing. I love nursing. It works well for me with this baby and I enjoy it. I didn’t want to give it up, not at any cost. So I didn’t tell anyone.

Turns out that was bad information. And it did me a disservice. There are many options for women experiencing anything from mild to severe PPD. There are many medication options and many non-medication options. I didn’t feel like I had anyone to talk to about it and I fear that many many many other mothers feel the same way. Being a new mom is hard. Excruciatingly difficult, terrifyingly isolating, you feel like your body is permanently destroyed, you don’t have time to finish a sentence with your spouse and you feel like the world is going on and you are chained to a chair feeding and rocking a delicate ever-needy baby.

This article about breastfeeding and psychiatric medication gives a good overview of the basis for most medical decisions regarding PPD and nursing moms.

I feel strongly about helping other women get the information they need to have an easier postpartum experience. I will write more on this topic again soon and often.

Another great postpartum website is Postpartum.net

** I fear I am oversimplifing my situation and I don’t mean to do that. I will address this topic again soon with more honesty , clarity and useful information.

Christina Applegate, best known for her 10-year roll on Fox’s Married with Children as Kelly Bundy and more recently as star of Samantha Who?, admitted this morning on Good Morning America that she had a double mastectomy just three weeks ago. She plans to undergo reconstructive surgery during the next year.

Diagnosed just this summer with breast cancer that was confined to one breast, she opted for the the more radical treatment of a double mastectomy. Applegate’s mother battled breast cancer and she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation that has been linked to more severe forms of breast and ovarian cancer.

Since her diagnosis she has opted for a healthy diet including fish, grains and vegetables and taken a serious matter-of-fact approach in making decisions that will effect her health and the rest of her life.

“I’m going to have cute boobs till I’m 90, so there’s that,” she joked in the interview, which aired Tuesday. “I’ll have the best boobs in the nursing home. I’ll be the envy of all the ladies around the bridge table.”

Applegate appears to be taking things in stride although, without a doubt she is experiencing stress and anxiety on unprecedented levels.

In recent years she has stepped out of type-cast role as a dumb-blonde-bimbo and taken on some more serious and challenging rolls. Her Daily News hopes Applegate has a speedy recovery and quickly returns to the set.

This article on Newsday comments on the increase in women having preventative double mastectomies. Do you find this to be too radical? Or, do you think this is a wise decision when faced with the challenges of BRCA1-breast cancer?

Some other Breast Cancer Information Sites:

Breast Cancer Info

Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure

National Cancer Institute

The Mininstry of Health (MOH) in China imposed a strict ban on surrogacy in 2001. Despite this, loopholes in the law and lax enforcement allows childless couples to continue to seek out surrogate mothers. According to the English People’s Daily Online, at least one woman has become a surrogate mother twice, both times largely for the money.

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Or, rather, the facts on Ovarian Cancer. Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions invites you to help fight the #4 cancer killer of women. More die of ovarian cancer than all other gynecologic cancers combined! Early detection, research and education can greatly increase her chances of surviving this deadly disease.

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As part of an ever expanding birth control program aimed at reducing unwanted pregnancies and  illegal  abortions,  Brazil will start offering the  morning-after pill. More information about the birth control reform can be read in the FOXNews article.

women, international, birth control, abortions, pregnancy

This is a case that really makes me wonder how someone could call themselves an “activist” but not be informed enough to get their protesting right:

David McMenemy, 46, was sentenced Friday to 5 years in prison for attempting to burn down a Davenport, Iowa women’s health clinic on September 11, 2006. McMenemy, a Detroit native, crashed his car into a building that he believed to be an abortion clinic and lit a bottle filled with gasoline before surrendering to firefighters. The Edgerton Women’s Health Care Center does not perform or make referrals for abortions, but provides prenatal care and medical services to low-income and underprivileged women, according to clinic officials.

During the sentencing, McMenemy admitted wrongdoing, telling US District Judge John Javery, “It was wrong. Even if it was an abortion clinic, it would still be wrong.” He then added that he planned to distance himself from any anti-abortion organizations in the future.

The judge ordered him to pay $263,252 in damages to the clinic and also to be treated for mental health and substance-abuse.

It’s not like it would have required much more effort to crash into the place and burn it down than it would have to find out what the clinic actually does. He and the guy who burned down the Hummer plant because they are high polluters (and his destruction of the plant actually caused more pollution than the Hummers could have put out in years) should get together and start a “hair-brained activist club”. In it, they will discuss ways ruin the environment and lives by making base-less assumptions and then acting on them through violent explosions.

I am quite saddened about this case. First of all, I don’t think he received a stiff enough penalty. Maybe if we started factoring is stupidity, sentences could be harsher. Additionally, that clinic was probably helping many women. It was probably run by an non-profit organization who does not have the funds to re-build the entire facility and now will have to remain closed (at least for some time) in order to build more funds. In the mean time, countless low-income and underprivileged women will have to seek care elsewhere, possibly further away and possibly not at all. Sometimes when you fight so hard for a cause, you do more harm than good.

women, abortion, clinics, activists, anti-abortion

An article on AlterNet.com cited that teenage birthrate is the lowest it has been in 65 years. So what is responsible for the drop? Both sex educators and abstinence-only proponents take the credit. The article then goes on to pose two scenarios and then asks who you think is right:

Let’s posit this scenario: You’re 16. You buy a soda and a pack of condoms at the corner store. That afternoon you have sex. You know how to put on the condom because you were taught in your public high school. Anyway, the condom is just a backup. Your girlfriend is on the pill. Some people say your education has encouraged you to take a life-threatening health risk.

Here’s an alternative scenario: You’re the federal government. You’ve thrown over a billion dollars into abstinence-only-until-marriage education. In a decade, you’ve transformed sex education in many states. Your message? There is no such thing as safe sex. Is your plan working? Your opponents say you’re better off throwing your money down a wishing well.

Who’s right?

Each scenario could be correct to any individual, depending on their view on the issue. So the real question is which one is getting the job done? Researchers in the article state that a combination of the two styles is causing change across the board.

It is quite possible that offering both types of education would be helpful even though the styles seem contradictory. Here’s how it could work. Abstinence-only education is only going to reach a certain number of teenagers. There will always be those out there are who are going to engage in pre-marital sex. So, for those teens, where the abstinence-only education leaves off, safe sex education can pick up the slack. Basically saying, if you choose to engage is sex before marriage, at least be safe and responsible by using contraceptives and getting tested regularly.

The problems, though, will still exist. As the article points out, the United States still has the highest teenage birthrate of any industrialized country. To add to the problem, the US government is only giving federal funding to abstinence-only programs. This may not seem like a bad thing if your belief is that teens won’t have sex if we tell them not to but the reality is, SOME will no matter what we say. Until we are able to come to a comprehensive resolution by talking openly and honestly about sex in America, our teen birthrate may drop but won’t be as low as it could (or possible should) be.

Article link: The Teenage Birth Rate Has Dropped to a 65-Year Low - Jennifer Liss, Wiretap

teens, sex, education, contraception, birthrate